Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
Baldeo, the watchman, was awake. He stretched himself, slowly unwinding the heavy shawl that covered him like a shroud. It was close on midnight and the chill air made him shiver. The station, a small shack backed by heavy jungle, was a station in name only; for trains only stopped there, if at all, for a few seconds before entering the deep cutting that led to the tunnel. Most trains only slowed down before taking the sharp curve before the cutting.
(i) What were Baldeo’s duties as a watchman?
What question did his son ask him before he left for his nightly errand?
(ii) Describe the axe that Baldeo carried with him. Who had made the axe?
(iii) Which sound made Baldeo realise that the tiger was close by?
Why was he worried that the tiger may be going in the opposite direction? Why didn’t the tiger fear the man?
(iv) Give an account of the encounter between Baldeo and the tiger.
(v) How did the tiger die? Point out a similarity in the characters of Baldeo and his son Tembu. Give an example for each to justify your answer.
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(i)
- Baldeo was responsible for signalling whether the tunnel was clear of obstruction / at night it was his duty to see that the lamp was burning / and that the train passed through safely.
- Tembu asked him if he should accompany his father.
(ii)
- Small axe / fragile to look at / but deadly when in use. / the axe head was made of pure steel / thin but ringing true like a bell.
- His father
(iii)
- A low grunt (growl; snarl) from the top of the cutting.
- His son Tembu was sleeping unprotected in the hut.
- It had been preying on men for years. / It was used to the ways of men. /Baldeo was a puny man.
(iv) The tiger ran towards him and struck him with his paw / Baldeo avoided the paw / he brought his axe down on the tiger’s shoulder / the tiger attempted to close in / Baldeo struck again with his axe / the beast moved and the axe caught the tiger on the shoulder / the axe remained struck in the bone / Baldeo was left without a weapon / the tiger sprang upon Baldeo / killed him.
(v) The tiger had been wounded and he was in agony (pain) / he did not notice the overland mail approaching / the train entered the cutting / the tiger tried to run but was run over by the train in the tunnel.
- Both were courageous / sense of duty and responsibility
- Appropriate examples from the text.